Cynthia Nixon Joins 12-Seat New York Judicial Panel as Critics Mock Non-Lawyer Pick
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 21
Cynthia Nixon Joins 12-Seat New York Judicial Panel as Critics Mock Non-Lawyer Pick
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 21
Summary
Chief Judge Rowan Wilson appointed Cynthia Nixon on Thursday to the 12-member Commission on Judicial Nomination, giving the actress a role in screening candidates for New York’s highest court.
Four seats on the panel are reserved for non-lawyers, but critics seized on Nixon’s lack of legal credentials and her political activism, with Republicans and some commentators calling the choice partisan and unserious.
Nixon, a Democratic Socialist ally who ran for governor in 2018 and backed Zohran Mamdani in 2025, will help recommend future Court of Appeals nominees to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The appointment revives tensions from Hochul’s failed bid to elevate Hector LaSalle, whose nomination Senate Democrats blocked before Wilson was chosen as chief judge.